WITH Frensham having a day off, the chasing pack took the chance to close the gap on the I’Anson leaders. Puttenham, Grayswood, Blackheath and Grayshott all won their matches.

Puttenham made short work of a makeshift, ten-man Wrecclesham side. The Recreation Ground pitch promised to be flatter than in recent weeks, but Wrecclesham, opting to bat, contrived to get themselves out for 50. They saw off the early threat of Aks Ilyas, but the impressive Saeed Ahmed soon got to work and the home side were reeling at 13-4.

Opener Harry Venables battled valiantly for 26 overs for his 15 runs and shared a decent stand with Matt Cheesman. Once they were out, the tail crumbled to Puttenham’s formidable attack. ‘Sid’ Ahmed finished with 4-12 in ten overs and Samad Ayoubi took 3-14 in eight.

The pitch was good enough for Puttenham openers James Andrews and Seamus Leonard to play some lovely fluid shots. A ten-wicket victory seemed a formality, but with the scores level, Graham Larby picked up Leonard who, looking to end the game in style, spooned a catch to keeper Henry Bate. Alex Hall removed Ahsan Ahmed for nought before a no-ball gave Puttenham the winning run.

If Grayswood’s innings was a one-man band, their bowling effort against Headley was a well-orchestrated quartet.

Put in on a damp, unpredictable wicket, Grayswood soon lost their openers to Andy Coutts, who then had skipper Alastair Gloak caught by Peter Messina at slip after Andy Clarke had parried the initial chance. Andy Major was quickly into his stride, however, and at 34-5, Iain Jackson joined him in a crucial stand of 77, of which Major contributed 60.

When he eventually mis-hooked Messina, the belligerent Major had scored 86 out of 106 off only 67 balls, hitting nine fours and five sixes. Cameron Kent marshalled the tail, but the final total of 129 looked inadequate. Coutts finished with 4-27 in seven overs and Messina and Matt Clarke also bowled well, sharing five wickets.

The half-hour before tea was significant and Headley lost two wickets for 18. Jackson and Kent bowled particularly mean spells, but the main damage was done by Alastair Gloak (4-26) and gentle left-armer Ben Rinck (3-27).

Gloak at first had little luck and several catches went down. The seventh-wicket pair of Marc Hawtin and Zac Benstead resisted for 14 overs while adding just 22, but with ample overs remaining and 63 runs needed, the result was in the balance. It was Rinck who broke the stand and Gloak brought the game to an abrupt conclusion by taking the last three wickets in four overs, giving Grayswood victory by 40 runs.

Skipper Imran Choudhary scored a half-century on his return to the Dogmersfield side and his decision to bat first looked a good one as the home side totalled 197 all out in 46 overs against Blackheath. Choudhary lacked support in the top order as Rob Weston and Alex Bertola took wickets regularly, but Asif Mustafa held firm with 44 not out while Abbas (20) and number 11 Shinwari (30) punished the bowlers.

In the end, Blackheath were set 198 to win in 44 overs and the reigning champions showed their mettle by knocking off the runs in a mere 31 overs.

After a positive start by Josh Milton and Rob Parrott, the former was joined by Alan Cope who resolved to bring the match to an early finish. The number 3 took the home bowlers apart with a blistering century. When Cope was finally caught for 106, Milton was able to complete his own 50 and Blackheath pocketed eight points with eight wickets intact.

Grayshott were invited to bat first on a damp Chiddingfold wicket and the innings began inauspiciously as Andy Wheble, having got off the mark with a six, was trapped in front by Paul Hundley’s next ball. But Grayshott, taking their lead from skipper Nathan Phillimore, continued to play their shots.

Phillimore led the way with a 69-ball 74 and, quite remarkably, he struck nine sixes and not a single four. Neil Moseley, Gary Hunt and Matt Haywood got into the 30s – the latter pair hit six sixes between them – and a sting in the tail lifted the total to 236 in only 39 overs.

An early collapse to the pace of Mark Richards (5-24 in 11 overs) left Chiddingfold fighting to save the game and when the reliable Danny Brown picked up his usual three wickets, the home side were seven down before drinks. But opener Tony King was still there, playing an excellent innings, and he found a stubborn partner in Ben Evans.

Grayshott had plenty of overs and the left-arm spin of Haywood eventually had King caught for a defiant 55. Chiddingfold were all out for 110 in the 36th over, giving Grayshott their fourth win in five matches.

Witley lost a vital toss and, inserted by Tilford, slipped to 10-3 after ten overs against the very tight bowling of Huw Town-Jones and Jason Stones. On a damp pitch and outfield, the innings never gained momentum and a top partnership of 11 told its own story.

Stones finished with 5-16 from 13 deadly-accurate overs, while Nigel Martyn, also finding the soft track to his liking, took a wicket with his first ball and ended with 4-16 in 7.4 overs. Witley were all out for a meagre 40 in 27 overs, of which 13 were maidens.

Tilford’s top order found it just as difficult and the tea-time scoreboard read 12-4 from 11 overs.

Ryan Chitty, who hit the only two boundaries of the match, and Huw Town-Jones then got their heads down and eventually saw Tilford over the line. The visitors had required 32 overs to score 41 runs and were made to work particularly hard by Kurt Lyall, the Witley captain, who returned figures of 11.5-6-11-3.